Cloud Connectivity with Riverbed

More and more applications are moving to the Cloud. This is increasing the need for cloud connectivity that is secure, performs well, and gives IT teams greater agility. Riverbed SteelConnect SD-WAN provides:

Fully-automated, one-click connectivity to AWS and Azure

Intra-cloud, inter-region & inter-cloud networking

AWS and Azure marketplace integration

The SteelConnect Manager GUI screens are easy to navigate. In just a few minutes you can accomplish all that is needed to start an automated process that sets up secure VPN tunnels from a cloud to on-premises sites. The cloud-native gateways can be configured in various sizes, in HA configurations, and with integrated WAN optimization. You can even set up an SD-WAN connection that enables application servers running in AWS to access a database running in Azure (or vice-versa). Further customization is possible using our Open REST APIs. SteelConnect Manager can also show you real-time performance metrics for every WAN link.

Provisioning a New Site with Riverbed SD-WAN

Creating a new site (location) and provisioning it takes only a few minutes using the Riverbed SD-WAN management console, SteelConnect Manager (SCM). Each new site inherits some network characteristics from configurable defaults established for the organization. This includes default zones (subnets or VLANs) and WAN uplinks, which can be easily modified or supplemented with additional zones and uplinks.

SteelConnect lets you design, save, and visualize your entire network before you deploy the first SD-WAN gateway. The process is aided by the use of shadow appliances—placeholders for real gateways—that can be configured right down to the port level. When the physical appliance is ready for installation at the site, just enter the serial number into SteelConnect Manager and plug it into the Internet. Everything else needed to bring the appliance online and establish WAN connectivity to other sites is accomplished with automation.

Using the SteelConnect Manager GUI

The SteelConnect Manager GUI is the central location to configure and manage all Riverbed SD-WAN devices on the network. This video provides a brief tour of SteelConnect Manager menus and concisely explains the rich functionality it provides:

Users – add users manually or synchronized from a directory and assign to groups

Applications – 2000+ pre-defined apps can be categorized into groups

Rules – define policies to control access as well as direct and prioritize traffic

SD-WAN over Dedicated Private Connections to the Cloud

Many organizations use AWS DirectConnect and Azure ExpressRoute for dedicated, private connections from on-premises sites to cloud-based applications. Riverbed SteelConnect SD-WAN support for private connections includes:

Application steering with QoS priority

Path selection based on path quality

Seamless failover

Network engineers can set up VPN tunnels to the Cloud across both a private connection and the Internet using the same SD-WAN gateway. This provides the ability to steer selected traffic onto the private connection and other traffic across the Internet depending on performance and security needs.

VPC Transit Routing using SteelConnect

An organization may need to set up peering connection between two VPCs (virtual private clouds) using private IPv4 addresses. This can be useful when merging networks between the private clouds of different organizations, for example, or when an application running in one VPC needs to access a database in another VPC. Riverbed SteelConnect SD-WAN can establish a peering connection between two clouds and even run a VPN (virtual private network) across it.

More complicated configurations including full-mesh connectivity between clouds is possible. For security reasons, however, the hub-and-spoke topology is often used to connect a group of VPCs. This is easily configured with SteelConnect SD-WAN and the peering connections will be set up automatically in a matter of minutes. Additional WAN links can be established between the hub VPC and any other cloud as well as on-premises sites with full security.